The article also notes that Lockheed Martin provided the start-up funds for the ultra-conservative The Weekly Standard, and continued its support of that propaganda site by becoming one of its paid advertisers. The Weekly Standard editors, William Kristol and Fred Barnes, are permanent fixtures on FOX News. Stephen Hadley, deputy national security advisor in 2002 and Condoleeza Rice's replacement as national security advisor when she moved into the office of the Secretary of State in 2004; Stephen Hadley, the guy who got the ball rolling for the creation of the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq, worked for Shea & Gardner, a DC law firm that counted Lockheed Martin among its war contractor clients.
More on Hadley's work for Lockheed at Shea & Gardner, from VoltaireNet.org:Unknown to the public at large, Stephen Hadley has carried on a brilliant career in the shadow of Brent Scowcroft and Condoleeza Rice. A business lawyer convicted of fraud, he became the lawyer of the largest arms manufacturer in the world, Lockheed Martin. He trained the candidate George W. Bush, wrote up the new nuclear doctrine, prepared the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, supervised new entries into NATO, and sold the invasion of Iraq. Ever faithful, he protected Bush the father from the Irangate scandal and Bush the son from the lies of the Iraq war.Obviously, the Committee on NATO was a front for pushing more Lockheed Martin product. Also note at the VoltaireNet article, that Hadley, like new Defense Secretary Robert Gates, is another protege (Read: lapdog) of the American Turkish Council's Brent Scowcroft. Hadley was also the guy behind the claim that Saddam's Iraq had acquired Nigerian yellowcake...
[ . . . ]
As lawyer for Lockheed Martin, Hadley was in contact with the directors of the firm, notably Lyne Cheney (wife of Dick). He became close with Bruce P. Jackson, the vice-president of the firm in charge of conquering new markets. They developed together the US Committee to Expand NATO into which they brought Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz. The Committee steered the entry of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland in 1999. Then that of Bulgaria, Estonia, Latonia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. Each time, the leaders of the new member States were solicited to bring their armies up to the norms of NATO, that is to say, to purchase material from Lockheed Martin. The pressure was so strong that certain of them denounced "the racket" into which they were forced.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Mizgin on Lockheed
* Mizgin has a good post up about the Lockheed/Playboy article - including:
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8 comments:
Making money for specific corporate entities in deference to the country's business is why I've called America's government functionally communistic. This business about Hadley, NATO and Lockheed Martin is a perfect example, and just one of many. It's what you'd expect from Red China, not the United States. Nicely done, Mizgin. The longer the profit of the most evil corporations on earth continues to be the only business in which Washington is responsive, the more clear it is that citizens who care about democracy need a full-time presence in Washington which does everything a lobby effort does, and more.
Checking my notes, I find Bruce P. Jackson -- of Lockheed Martin and the US Committee on NATO -- mentioned as also being a member of the American Committee for Peace in Chechnya. Why am I not surprised?
starroute - i suspect that there's not much that would surprise you...
uranus - here's sibel:
"The other day I received a request to sign on to a petition put forth by a group of 9/11 family members urging the congress to reopen the investigations of 9/11 and declassify the infamous 27-pages which deal with foreign governments, U.S. allies, that provided support for those who carried out the attacks on our nation. My heart goes out to them. I do sympathize with them. I am known to take on similar propositions and methods of activism myself. However, looking at the realities, seeing what it takes to get things done in Washington, realizing how this beast works in the Real Sin City, I would encourage them to look at the root cause, rather than the symptoms. There are only two ways I can see that can bring about what they have been fighting for and what the majority of us desire to see in terms of bringing about Truth, Oversight, and Accountability; Justice.
The family members, and their supporters, us, either have to tackle the major cause; the corruption of our government officials via unrestricted and undisciplined ‘revolving doors’ and ‘foreign influence & lobby’ practices, and push for expedient meaningful reforms by the new ambitious congress, and have them prove to us their worth. Or, they may as well give up their long-held integrity, go bid high for one or two former statesmen, hire a few dime a dozen generals, and buy themselves a couple of ex-congressmen turned lobbyists; that will do the job."
it's funny that yuo mention "functionally communistic" - the Playboy article quotes a senator who suggests that perhaps the only way to solve the MIC problem is to nationalize the 'defense contractors'
I saw that! Whether or not it's a good idea, it is noteworthy that things have gone so far afield someone suggests it. There is a small handful of things I say which invariably leads to an argument, and this is one of them. But, damn it, it seems so obvious. Notice how Bush ignored November's repudiation of his misguided war effort? It isn't exactly what I'd call working for the people in a democracy; instead, it's something very different his ever-changing, thin rhetoric doesn't explain. How I wish I'd spoken up sooner. Water under the bridge, and no matter now--it isn't too late. Call these people what they are: communists. It's good for them and everyone.
Uranus, I call the American government functionally Lockheed Martin. The Ralston conflict of interest made this so obvious, and the rejection of the PKK ceasefire and proposal for a democratic solution to Turkey's brutality of Kurds confirmed that America's claims of making the world safe for democracy, peace, and human rights are nothing more than cynical marketing gimmicks.
The Arms Trade Resource Center of the World Policy Institute compared the dollar value of contracts for the war industry in 2001 and 2003. Halliburton went from $400 million in 2001 to $3.9 billion in 2003; Northrup Grumman went from $5.2 billion to $11.1 billion; Lockheed Martin went from $14.7 billion to $21.9 billion. Lockheed Martin has continued to soar, although I have not seen any figures yet for fiscal year 2006, but net sales for 3rd quarter, 2006, were $9.6 billion, up from $9.2 billion in 3rd quarter, 2005.
There should be a law, that anyone who has ever worked for any war corporation or any corporation even slightly associated with the war industry, is forever barred from running for any political office or for any appointment to any political job. Same thing for the war industry employees and the media. Since none of this information ever makes it into the mainstream media, there is war industry control over the media, too, described as media filters by Noam Chomsky.
In fact, it might be a good idea to consider everyone remotely connected with the war industry as modern day's lepers and every last one of them, along with their families, should be shipped off to island factories where they can make their money and their weapons, in total isolation from civilized society. If they live long enough, 20 years or so after they retire, they can become eligible for re-education to introduce them to civilized society.
mizgin - thnx.
fp'd
I always thought Bruce P. Jackson deserved additional scrutiny. He was a member of PNAC and headed up the foreign policy group for Bush's 2000 campaign -- where the Grand Plan to remake the Middle East no doubt was firmed up. He also has a background in military intelligence.
Could I also mention that the mysterious call boy Jeff Gannon was introduced to right-wing "journalism" by Bobby Eberle, an employee of Lockheed Martin?
thnx mamayaga.
i'm embarrassed to say that i wasn't familiar with BP Jackson.
Nice catch with notgannon/eberle too.
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